“Surprise!” Viviane Duclos announces cheerfully, her eyes a bright gold, her fingers extended into sharp ivory claws. With a blow from the back of her hand, she sends the sweaty guy flying across the tiny room, slamming into one of the shelving units with so much force the metal buckles and the cinder block behind it cracks; in the same fluid motion, she slashes open the woman’s throat, blood geysering into the air. Salt-and-Pepper manages to fire at her once before she’s snapping all the bones in his wrist, spinning him around and bending his head backward so that his neck is bared to her teeth.

Three whole seconds haven’t even passed, and I’m still trying to process what’s just happened as Salt-and-Pepper struggles to speak through his twisted windpipe. “Even if you kill us, you can’t stop the Brotherhood of Perseus. More will come in our place!”

“I certainly hope so, love,” Viviane purrs. “I’m starving.”

“Wait!” I gasp, struggling onto feet that don’t want to support me, shocked my underwear is still dry. “D-don’t kill him!”

“Never show your enemy a mercy they wouldn’t show you, Auggie.” Viviane doesn’t take her eyes off the jumping pulse in the man’s exposed neck. “The first thing this man will do if I let him live is help the Brotherhood organize their next move against you. They’ll know what pressures you respond to—and they’ll know who I am and what I’m capable of.” Salt-and-Pepper tries to say something, but she forces his head back farther, cutting off his air. “I’d like them to underestimate me for as long as possible.”

“Daphne,” I begin, because it’s still the first name that comes to me, but I stop when I realize my mistake, startled out of my own train of thought.

“I promised I’d protect you, and I meant it.” Her gaze meets mine over the writhing man’s jugular, and despite the new angles to her face, I still see someone I know. I still see someone who cares about me—even if she cares more about the Corrupter. “Consider my offer, okay?” Her voice is calm, even as she holds a man pinioned so she can plunge her teeth into his throat. “And watch your back.”

She waits until I’ve shoved my way out into the service corridor to start feeding, and the door clicks shut behind me on the man’s dying screams.